GatewayRedbirds.com

I don't listen to the radio nearly as much as I used to, so this isn't as big a problem for me anymore, but it's always bothered me. Has it ever bothered anyone else that many times a song is COMPLETELY different on the radio than it is on the album? I'm not just talking about a shortened version, I'm talking about completely different tempos, completely different rhythm/background beat, sometimes even the whole style of the song is different. But you don't know that because the radio station doesn't tell you, so you go out to the store and buy the CD, only to discover that the song is nothing like you thought it was and the radio edits are almost impossible to get except by downloading illegally(which is one of the reasons I started downloading music back in the day).

The latest example of this is a song called "Umbrella" by Rihanna. Sort of a silly song and not a very good example, but just the most recent. I don't typically like hip-hop/R&B style music, but this one was kind of catchy, so I go look it up, and all I can find is this version with Jay-Z rapping in the first 30 seconds of it instead of the intro I heard on the radio. I don't like rapping, I don't like Jay-Z, so I don't want that version, and I can't find the radio edit.

I almost feel like I've been lied to by the radio station and I have definitely wasted money on CDs in the past because of this(then angrily thrown them away when I realize the song isn't what I thought it was). Music is pretty important to me, and this really, really, really ticks me off.

The only thing I've noticed is curse words edited. Never anything like what you're describing.

G. Keenan wrote:The only thing I've noticed is curse words edited. Never anything like what you're describing.

Will you leave the country already... jeeze.

maddash wrote:

G. Keenan wrote:The only thing I've noticed is curse words edited. Never anything like what you're describing.

Will you leave the country already... jeeze.

Couple hours and I'm gone.

This type of thing is one of the reasons all my "keeper" versions of songs for my iPod are songs I've ripped myself from a real CD so I at least know to some degree what the heck I have.

Differences between singles and album versions date back all the way into the 50's and 60's. In some ways it was even worse back then, with mono mix, stereo mix (usually crappy), sometimes labels would re-record or add overdubs on a song and re-release it under the same catalog number.

Buying oldies on CD it takes a bit of education to even make sure you are getting the "real" band -- washed up artists or minor members of a band will re-record supposed sound-alike versions of the hits which are usually not even close.